2003 Liberty 2.4L didn't want to idle this morning, but then did. (update Jan 12, 2026, happened again)

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psyon

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2003 Liberty 2.4L

I didn't go anywhere for the last few days, so Jeep was just sitting. I checked the oil on it yesterday while out working in the garage, noticed it was low and topped it off. This morning, I went to get groceries, and when I started it, it immediately died. Tried again, died again. Gave it some gas, and it would rev up normal and staying running just fine if I kept my foot on the gas a little bit. I let it warm up, let off the gas, and it died. Started it again, let it warm up even more, let off the gas, and it died. Finally decided to just move it out of the way and take my other vehicle to the store, so started it up, kept it running, put it in reverse and backed it up. When I let off the gas after I backed it up, it stayed running. So I shut it off, started it back up, and it was idling fine. Drove it the store without any issues. Started and idled fine when I came out of the store too, no issues on the drive home. What might have been doing on?
 

Unclebob9

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2003 Liberty 2.4L

I didn't go anywhere for the last few days, so Jeep was just sitting. I checked the oil on it yesterday while out working in the garage, noticed it was low and topped it off. This morning, I went to get groceries, and when I started it, it immediately died. Tried again, died again. Gave it some gas, and it would rev up normal and staying running just fine if I kept my foot on the gas a little bit. I let it warm up, let off the gas, and it died. Started it again, let it warm up even more, let off the gas, and it died. Finally decided to just move it out of the way and take my other vehicle to the store, so started it up, kept it running, put it in reverse and backed it up. When I let off the gas after I backed it up, it stayed running. So I shut it off, started it back up, and it was idling fine. Drove it the store without any issues. Started and idled fine when I came out of the store too, no issues on the drive home. What might have been doing on?
you might try some injector cleaner. Is there any white smoke coming from the exhaust? If so, you might have water in your tank.
 

psyon

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you might try some injector cleaner. Is there any white smoke coming from the exhaust? If so, you might have water in your tank.
Nope. I haven't had any issues since the other morning either. My best guess is that there was a lose fitting on the hose coming out of the valve cover going into the air intake, and it sucked some oil in and fouled up a sensor in the throttle body. After running a bit, it cleared off the oil. I really have no other guess than that.
 

psyon

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Happened again this morning after sitting for the weekend again. Went to drive it this morning and it wouldn't idle. I took a different vehicle, and when I got home I kept my foot on the gas for a bit to idle it, and eventually it idled on it's own and seems fine again.
 

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